Resumen de Is Chemical Density Important to Nursing Education? A 2D Virtual Lab and a PERCEIVE Demonstration
Chemistry topics are ubiquitous in healthcare diagnostics as well as health professions undergraduate curricula. However, there are limited correlations between chemistry and healthcare made in textbooks or template lecture materials. For undergraduate nursing students (BSN) enrolled in a Chemistry for Health Professions course, the author (and instructor) developed a didactic, digital, interactive, and experiential learning series for the students to explore one chemical topic, density, and examine its importance to nursing education. This article outlines the first of several PERCEIVE (Preparing Engaging Real-time Chemical Education Interactive and Visual Examples) chemical education demonstrations offered to undergraduate nursing students. Following a lecture on chemical density, ≥162 students completed a series of questionnaires on a 2D virtual lab exercise on “Identifying Metals” via their mobile phones and QR codes, then observed an in-class demonstration on “Density in Health”. The respondents highly recommended the in-class PERCEIVE demonstration for future undergraduate health professions courses and noted this added visualization aided in their ability to bridge the two concepts: density and healthcare diagnostics. Additional qualitative survey results for the lab and demonstration are discussed in this manuscript. As to the question, “Is Chemical Density Important to Nursing Education?”, 98.77% of 162 student respondents agreed this concept is an important component of nursing education.
